They Have Plans for Us
by ShefraFaye
Summary: AU. All Clary Fairchild can dream about since starting her first term back at college is a mysterious, blond boy. When the boy of her dreams walks right into her classroom, her roommate Isabelle is convinced that it is fate that brought them together. But Clary is not so sure. Getting closer to this boy slowly reveals that the mystery is a lot deeper than what they first expected.
1. Chapter 1: The Boy of Her Dreams

Clary closed her tired eyes for a moment, attempting to remember the mysterious dream she had last night. All around her, the other students are finding their seats and excitedly discussing their weekend plans. But this morning Clary doesn't want to join in, so she filters out the sounds of their voices. Watching the colours flickering against her eyelids, she remembers seeing a young man's face. His blue eyes softened when they met hers. Although she does not recognize him while awake, in her sleep she instantly understood that she was in love with him. He was beautiful. While lovingly running his fingers through her hair, he began to frown. She feels a sharp pain through her chest knowing that she may have caused that pain. _This will never work between us,_ he said and Clary felt herself nod in agreement. He turned away from her and she woke suddenly, struggling to catch her breath. 

That very same dream, without a single detail ever changing, has plagued her sleep for the past week. Last night she lay awake for hours trying to decipher it. Was her subconsciousness trying to tell her something? Surely, it's not possible to dream of a face she has never seen before. She strains to remember where she has seen him before; did he work at the local café or did they go to a summer camp together as children? Her roommate saunters into the classroom and her seductive red lips form a playful smile as she spots her friend. She taps Clary on the shoulder. 

"Hello? Earth to Clary!" 

"Isabelle!" Clary opens her eyes and instinctively slides her handbag off the chair beside her. She motions for her friend to sit down and Isabelle happily slides into the seat next to her. 

"Are you alright? I didn't see you at breakfast this morning." 

"I'm sorry, Izzy. I've been really sleep deprived lately, I just wanted to get this first class over with." 

"Are you having that spooky dream again? You know...the one about the cute boy?" Isabelle curiously raises her eyebrows. 

Clary gently nudges her friend with her elbow and laughs. "Maybe…" 

"Oh Clary, how exciting! You'll have to draw a sketch of him for me sometime, I'd love to meet him in my dreams myself!" She pauses for a moment to imagine the mysterious blond man that Clary has described to her in detail many times. She sighs and flutters her eyelashes dramatically, knowing well how to tease her friend. "I think this is too much of a coincidence. Has the thought ever crossed your mind that he might be your soulmate?" 

"Don't be silly, Isabelle. It's only a dream. I don't believe in fate, anyway." 

Their lecturer darts into the classroom, flicks the nearest switch and slams his stack of notes onto the podium. The two girls straighten their backs and the classroom falls silent. He fires up the projector and the wall in front of them is illuminated by images of stones and ancient symbols. 

"I welcome you all to your first class. Today I'd like to talk a bit about what we're going to cover in this module. Runes..." he begins, "Are an ancient Germanic alphabet-" and in that moment he is interrupted by the sound of the old, heavy classroom door reopening. A boy with floppy blond hair, dressed completely in black, enters the room and for a moment the projector casts light onto his face. Clary's eyes widen in shock, she instantly recognises that face. Keeping his head down, the boy walks right past Clary and Isabelle and takes a seat right behind them. Their lecturer waits patiently for him to take his seat and continues. 

"Here are some examples of the runes we will be studying this term…" 

Clary leans over to her friend, as close as she can get to her ear, and whispers, "That's him." 

"Who?" Isabelle whips her head around. 

"No, shhh! Don't make a scene!" Clary grabs Isabelle's hand to draw her attention away from the newcomer. "The boy who just sat down...it's him." 

"The boy from your dreams?" 

Clary nods, everything she wants to say is caught in her throat. The two girls slowly turn their heads to take a quick glance at the blond boy, who is vigorously taking notes and oblivious to their interaction. 

"Well things have certainly gotten interesting," Isabelle whispers and flashes her friend another cheeky smile. 

"Thank you all for attending, I hope to see you all next week," their lecturer bellows at the end of the class as he scoops his notes back into his arms and leaves the room just as swiftly as he came in. 

Clary and Isabelle are frozen in their seats, unsure how to react. They spent the entire class in silence. The boy, quite literally, from Clary's dreams is sitting a few inches away from them. Butterflies of excitement had formed in Isabelle's stomach throughout the class as she pondered how she would introduce the two to each other. Of course, it would have to be her who would initiate things, she decided, as Clary was far too shy. Anyway, Isabelle was more than happy to partake in a bit of matchmaking, what an exciting way to start the year. 

But the opposite kind of butterflies had formed in Clary's stomach. She was convinced, now more than ever, that she had seen him somewhere before. That was the logical explanation. But that didn't quell the sickly, anxious sensation that was swirling around her stomach- there was something strange about this. Why did she dream of him on the nights leading up to seeing him? Clary wonders briefly if she should say something to him, if she should introduce herself. But that would make things even more strange, how was she supposed to do that? _Hi, I've been dreaming of your face for the past week!_ No, that would be inappropriate. Before either of the girls have a chance to even open their mouths, the blond boy slips out of his seat, without even looking in their direction, and walks confidently out the door. 

"Are you sure?" Isabelle finally asks, breaking the silence between them. 

"Now that I've seen his face with the lights on..." she turns to her friend to look her in the eyes, "I've never been so sure of anything in my life. Let's go, I have to show you something." 

Their conversation shifts as they walk back to their apartment together. Isabelle is very carefully planning her outfit for an upcoming party, she was keen on making a good first impression among her fellow students and she coerces Clary into wearing something other than her usual jeans and t-shirt. 

"Wear your short skirt, the faux leather one. If you don't have anything to pair with it, I can help you out. Oh, and of course your hair! Well, you'll have to wear it down for once. Don't worry, I'll figure out something to do with it. Anyway, what was it that you wanted to show me?" 

Clary tosses her bag into the corner of her room as they enter the door. She immediately walks over to her desk and rummages through a pile of old sketchbook pages. Finally, at the bottom of the pile, she pulls a page from beneath the rest and takes a moment to study it. An icy sensation pulses throughout her body as she realises that she was, in fact, correct about the boy being the one from her dreams. She sighs anxiously and hands it over to Isabelle. Isabelle takes in every detail on the sketch she was handed, a portrait of the blond boy that was sitting in their class. It was so detailed that it almost looked as if Clary had drawn it during the class. For a while, she is unable to form a sentence from the amount of thoughts that flowed through her mind. This time, it is Clary who breaks the uncomfortable silence. 

"I drew this last night when I couldn't get back to sleep. It's the reason why I'm so tired." 

"Wow, that's spooky. It looks just like him." Her expression changes to one of excitement as she hands her friend back the drawing, "I knew he was your soulmate!" 

"Isabelle! There's a better explanation for this, I must have seen him somewhere else. There's no possible way I could have dreamt of his face without seeing it in real life." 

"Come on, it's the first week of term. Where else could you have possibly seen him before?" 

"Maybe he's from Brooklyn too?" 

"Sure, that's possible…" she pauses to shrug her shoulders, "But the difference between you and I, Clary Fairchild, is that I believe in fate. I believe that there are are things out there that don't have a simple explanation, things that are beyond our control. I've experienced it first-hand. I can tell that you don't believe your own explanation, I can tell that you believe in something supernatural too."


	2. Chapter 2: The Party

"I've got to go now, my roommate is back. Uh huh. I love you too. Bye."

Clary quickly hangs up and tosses her mobile phone onto the bed next to her as Isabelle emerges from their shared closet with a handful of clothes piled high on her arms. Isabelle floats around her side of the room. She carefully lays some of her clothes onto the bed while smoothing the wrinkles out and hangs others along the curtain rail.

"Was that your mom? Does she know you're not coming home this weekend?" Isabelle asks and Clary nods in response. "Great! So we're almost set for the first party of the year…"

Isabelle triumphantly holds up two dresses from the pile; the first a black, sequined mini dress and the second a deep red, silky, figure-fitting cocktail dress.

"Alright...which one? The black one or the _red_ one?" she asks, hovering each over her body for a moment to give her friend an idea of what they will look like when worn. Of course, Clary knows her roommate well enough to see that she has a preference for the red dress.

"Well the sequin one will really make you stand out...but the red one will go so well with your favourite necklace. I'd say the red one."

"You are _so right_ Clary. Thanks!" she says with a quick little wink before running off to get changed.

A few hours later, the two girls arrive at the party. With a drink in hand, Clary awkwardly tugs at the bottom of her pleather skirt. Isabelle had made it very clear before they arrived that her goal for the night was to spend it talking to a "cute boy" and already she is scanning the room for potential victims. Clary scans the room also, but instead hoping to find someone from her year to talk to. It seems that everyone is a senior. Isabelle nudges her friend, raises her eyebrows suggestively and nods towards a lonesome tall boy in the corner with well-trimmed facial hair.

"Have fun," Clary shouts over the music. After a few minutes of bobbing her head to the music, she notices that her cup of whatever concoction she had poured for herself is almost empty. Feeling a little overwhelmed by all the new faces, she makes her way to the kitchen to fix herself a new drink. She takes small sips as she watches those around her. The kitchen is full of people who were already acquainted, eagerly chatting with one another but Clary doesn't recognise a single one of them. Just as she begins to wish someone from her class would appear, she catches sight of a familiar flash of blonde hair in the distance. He's talking to a small group of people in the hallway who are laughing periodically at his jokes. Maybe the alcohol gave her a sudden surge in confidence, as she feels ready to introduce herself to him and so, she downs the last bit of her drink. As she makes her way to the door, Isabelle suddenly appears in the door frame.

"Izzy!"

Isabelle takes her gently by the elbow in the direction of a pair of empty bar stools in the kitchen and pouts. Both girls sit in unison.

"What's wrong?"

"The boy I spoke to was so boring. Help me find another!"

"I'd love to, Izzy, but you'll never guess who I saw in the hallway? Dream boy."

Isabelle's eyes light up and she gently takes her friend's hands. "Where is he?"

"In the hallway talking to some seniors. I'm going to talk to him, Izzy."

Isabelle can't help but let out a little yelp and she wishes her friend good luck as she slides from off her chair. Clary takes a deep breath, puts on a smile and makes her way to the hallway. As she walks, she finally notices that the alcohol has officially made its way into her system and she's a little unstable on her feet. As she approaches, she hears a girl announce that she is going to the balcony to smoke and a few join her. The blonde boy looks ready to walk away also until he locks eyes with Clary. He is frozen in place. A boy with thick, dark hair and golden-coloured eyes remains with him, connected at his hip.

"Hi," Clary begins with an unmistakable grin on her face, the entire experience of finally seeing him in person is so surreal for her. "I...think I've seen you in Runes before? My name is Clary."

The blond boy runs his hand through his long hair and laughs gently under his breath while staring at the drink in his hand shyly. When he looks up, his piercing blue eyes make Clary's heart leap with joy. He really is as beautiful as he looked in her dreams, not a single detail was amiss.

"Yeah," he replies and Clary notices that his voice is a lot deeper than what she expected, "My name's, uh, Jace."

The dark-haired boy next to him is hanging on every word Jace is saying. He quickly looks at them both and eventually speaks up, "Are you guys in the same class or something?"

"Oh, yeah, something like that," Jace replies, finally taking his attention away from Clary for a moment, "Clary, this is my best friend Alec."

"Don't mind me," Alec says with a chuckle, "I can tell when I'm a third wheel. I'm gonna check on Lydia and I'll catch you later, man."

Alec gives Jace a good pat on the shoulder before slipping into another room. Jace looks visibly embarrassed as he sharply inhales through his teeth. Clary knows that her best friend would say something equally as embarrassing to her if she ever got the chance, but she smiles knowing that she loves her nonetheless. The interaction only shows Clary how close the two boys really are.

"You two are really close, aren't you?"

"Me and Alec? Yeah, the closest. We've known each other since we were kids."

"I can tell," Clary says while looking down and getting nostalgic, "I have a friend like that."

"So you're studying Mythology too?"

"No, History. But I was able to choose Runes as a module. I like it so far."

"I take my notes in runes, you know," he says with a boyish smile and Clary can't help but giggle in response.

In fact, she feels herself giggling _a lot_ more than usual. She isn't sure if it's the alcohol taking effect or the sheer excitement of finally getting to meet such a handsome, mysterious figure in the flesh. She feels somehow connected to him as they speak, as if they had known each other for a long time and as if she knew details about him that she isn't supposed to know yet. Her dreams made her feel like she knew him on an intimate level. Getting to study the little details of his face while asleep have made her more comfortable around him and she slips into deep conversation with him with ease, never breaking eye contact. He's shy, often glancing down but his words send Clary into fits of giggles on occasion. They bonded over their mutual interest in the arts. Everything is going perfect and Clary is glad she approached him, she even feels like he might be flirting with her.

Her cheeks are warm and all of a sudden, she feels faint. Pins and needles begin working their way up her arms and legs. Colours flash against her eyes. In a slight panic, she begins to feel herself say, _I think I need some air,_ but she never gets to finish her sentence as she topples limply into Jace's arms. As she presses her head against his chest, she faintly smells his cologne. He drops everything in order to catch her, scoops her into his arms and carries her outside. She feels her numb legs swinging as he carries her and that's the last thing she remembers clearly. He gently rests her head on his lap. When she gains the ability to walk again, he guides her back to her apartment.

In the early hours of the morning, Clary is woken by the sound of her roommate closing the door of their shared bedroom.

"Clary?" Isabelle whispers.

"Yeah?" Clary replies and feels an instant pain shoot throughout her head. She makes a mental note to never drink so fast ever again.

"Where were you? I texted you more times than I can count!" Isabelle throws herself onto her bed dramatically and her purse onto her bedside table. Clary cannot see in the dark, but she can almost imagine Isabelle standing there with her hands on her hips.

"I talked to him, Izzy. He walked me home."

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well he walked you home, did you not kiss him?"

"No, Izzy. Let me sleep, I'm so hungover!"

"Alright, alright. You can tell me about _Dream Boy_ in the morning."

"Izzy?"

"Hm?"

"His name is Jace, by the way," Clary whispers before falling back asleep and sleeping well into the afternoon the next day.


	3. Chapter 3: Embarrassment

Clary wakes the next morning with the worst headache she's ever felt. Stumbling into the kitchen at midday with her head throbbing, she finds Isabelle stirring a pot of something that is bubbling away on their shared stove and she is looking perky as ever.

"Clary! You're just in time, I was about to serve lunch!"

Clary groans at the thought of Isabelle's cooking, it was experimental at the best of times and nausea-inducing at the worst. In her now hungover state, she wasn't so sure if she wanted to take that risk but she sits down at the table all the same, so as not to be impolite.

"This will make you feel so much better!" she boasts, spooning an indistinguishable, thick substance into Clary's bowl as Clary forces a smile in response.

"Mmmm…" Clary says and plays with it a little, mimicking the same movements she might make if she were actually eating it.

"So we have about an hour and a half before class and then we can go get coffee where you can tell me all about _Jace_ ," Isabelle explains and wiggles her eyebrows.

After class, the girls make their way to the nearest coffee shop to discuss an essay they have to write this term for a European history module. They list the pros and cons of different topics while sipping coffee and spreading their notes over the table.

"Ah...this is really exhausting me," Isabelle moans and leans back into the armchair she's sitting in. "Can we just take a break?"

"Sure, sure. We're not in a rush." Clary sweeps up her notes and pushes them aside before curling her hands around her mug of black coffee and deeply inhaling its scent.

Suddenly, a thought crosses Isabelle's mind and her eyes light up again. A saucy smile appears on her lips as she makes eye contact with her friend. Clary senses exactly what she's going to say next and a small, good-humoured sigh escapes from her lips.

"So...when are you going to tell me all about your night with Jace?"

"No, no, no. We're not doing this," she says while shaking her head in disbelief, "We need to talk about the long-haired guy I saw you sneaking upstairs with…"

"I did not!" Isabelle chokes and nudges her friend with her elbow. She leans back into her chair once again. "Okay, maybe I did."

Clary leans over the table with curiosity.

"Well his name is Mel and he's an exchange student and oh...Clary, he's got an incredible body!" she laughs coyly. "But I want to know about your _Dream Boy_!"

Clary takes a deep breath, "Isabelle, I messed up. That was the first time I spoke to him and he practically had to drag me back to the apartment. I was so out of it...I'm not really sure what I said on the way home. Oh, Isabelle! I'm so embarrassed!"

Isabelle chuckles as Clary throws her face into her hands. She feels her face grow warm at the thought of him having a bad impression of her when they had only just met.

"Do you think he hates me now?"

"Clary...that's not exactly a good reason to hate someone. If he does hate you after that, well, he isn't worth your time." Seeing that her words aren't helping much, Isabelle changes to a lighter speech, "You'll see him again on Monday right? You can clear everything up then. Easy."

Clary nods in response and the golden-red curls around her face bounce. She smiles, Isabelle always knows exactly how to make her feel good.

"Hurry up, Izzy! I want to get there early!" Clary calls while skipping backwards on their way to class. She made sure to get dressed as fast as possible that morning and urge Isabelle to walk faster on their morning commute. She wants to get the chance to talk to Jace before class, she's excited to see him again. "I want to get his phone number today!"

"Calm down Clary…" Isabelle begins while rolling her eyes gently, "I'm sure he's not that hard to get a hold of and anyway...I can't walk that fast in these boots!"

The two girls assume their usual seat; close to the back but near the back entrance, just in case they need to make a sneaky exit. As Clary takes out her laptop, her gaze darts across the room for the comforting sight of his blonde hair but he is nowhere to be seen. She applies lip gloss to distract herself.

"Did you look over the slides for this class?" Isabelle attempts to strike up a conversation.

"Nah, runes kind of...come naturally to me."

Their dowdy-looking lecturer from the week before storms into the room. He struggles to push his old-fashioned golden glasses further up his nose while gripping tightly to the overflowing pile of notes in his arms.

"Right…" he barks from his podium, so loudly that it causes Clary to drop her mirror. "If we're all here I'd like to start straight away…"

The lights dim for a moment before the projector spills its light onto the screen before them.

"Here we have a beautiful example of a runestone from Sweden. Would anyone like to guess what the highlighted word is?"

"Sacrifice…" Clary says under her breath.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," the lecturer calls to her.

"Sacrifice," she says once again, but louder.

"Correct. But that's a little heavy for this time of the morning…" he mumbles and the lecture hall erupts in laughter. "I was hoping you'd say baptism. It can also mean baptism. But well done."

On their walk back to their apartment, Isabelle mentions a few society events they can attend over the week but a memory of their previous class leaps into her head.

"Why did you know the rune for 'sacrifice' so early on in the year?" she asks.

Clary shrugs. "I don't know, I just looked at it and had a feeling that's what it said."

"Oh, come on!" Isabelle moans, "You've gotten a tutor, haven't you? Unless you've got some weird, paranormal super powers I'm not aware of yet…"

"The only super power I'm aware of is my ability to always somehow get coffee stains on my sketchbook paper."

"...and your freaky premonition dreams."

Both girls giggle until Clary lets out a sigh.

"Do you think he didn't show up to class because he wanted to avoid me?" she asks, leaning against the wall as Isabelle digs through her handbag for their key.

"Clary, what could you have possibly said…" Isabelle begins but Clary isn't paying attention to what she's saying, as she can see someone down the hall searching for his own key through the pockets of his leather jacket. Jace.

"...and I swear if he starts that sort of thing-"

"Shhhh," Clary urges her friend and grabs her arm.

"...because you're a nice girl Clary and you don't deserve those kind of mind ga-"

"Shhhh!" Clary urges once more.

"...because you know, I'd kick his ass for y-"

This time Clary grabs her friend by the shoulders and forcibly turns her around. A gentle "...oh" escapes Isabelle's mouth as she watches Jace disappear through the apartment door.

"Has he been living down the hall from us this entire time?"


	4. Chapter 4: New Beginnings

Clary's pen scratches along the line she was asked to sign.

"There!" she says triumphantly and tosses her folder of sheets on top of the rest. "The first essay of the year is over and done with!"

She checks the time, a quarter to nine, as she makes her way to the lecture hall. A text lights up her phone once again and she reads it. _Clary, I still haven't finished and I'll be working right up until 6pm! You'll have to go to class without me today. Wish me luck and I'll see you later to celebrate xxxxxx_. Clary rolls her eyes, she knew that her friend would be handing it in at the very last minute. Their usual spot was free and she took a seat, throwing her handbag onto the chair that would not be occupied this time and distracts herself by flicking through her notes. As her lecturer asks the class for their attention, she looks up to see Jace ascending the stairs. This time, he nods his head and offers her a little sideways smile before taking his seat behind her. Clary feels a wave of relief wash over her knowing that he didn't let that night form his opinion of her. Throughout the class, she makes the resolve to talk to him while haphazardly writing notes due to her nerves.

Once the students start making their way out of their seats, she swivels around in her chair. He notices her as he's sliding out of his seat.

"Hi…" he says when they make eye contact and he slings his bag over his shoulder casually.

"Hi…" she responds under her breath and under the flourescent lights of the classroom she can finally see his blue eyes in all their splendor. For a moment, Jace looks uncomfortable and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. But before he manages to leave, Clary stops him once more.

"Um...I'm really embarrassed about the other night and I'd really like to thank you for making sure I got home okay…maybe with coffee?"

He thinks for a moment, running his free hand through his long, thick blond hair which causes a little pang within Clary's chest. His gaze returns to her before he makes his decision.

"Actually…I'd like that."

So the two students make their way to Clary's usual haunt and she smiles as he orders a black coffee, her favourite drink.

Clary slings her satchel over her chair and wraps her hands around her warm cup. Jace removes his leather jacket to reveal a soft, worn grey t-shirt with an incredibly toned chest beneath it. Clary attempts to re-direct her attention back to her coffee.

"So, Clary…" Jace begins, leaning over the table on his forearms, "Tell me more about yourself."

"Well…" her eyes wander across the room from the awkwardness of being put on the spot, "I guess the other night I didn't get a chance to tell you that I'm from Brooklyn. I love art. I actually applied for the art course but I didn't meet the requirements. It worked out alright in the end though because I can take modules in art history and I got the chance to meet Isabelle."

 _...and you,_ she thinks, but takes a sip of coffee to prevent herself from saying it aloud.

"And you got the chance to study runes," he adds.

"And I got the chance to study runes," she echoes him and smiles. "You sure are passionate about that module."

"I should be...it's my second time taking it."

"Your second time? Are you repeating your second year?"

"No, I'm in fourth year. I requested to take the class again. I'm thinking about incorporating it into my thesis."

Clary felt a wave of excitement come over her knowing that she was not only talking to a boy who was older than her, but such an intelligent one also.

"Sounds interesting. I'd love to borrow your notes sometime."

A silence forms between the two of them as their eyes linger on one another's just a few seconds too long. Jace sighs.

"I feel like I've met you before," he says eventually.

"I…" Clary begins, briefly wondering if it was too early to bring up the content of her precognitive dreams. Although she doesn't want to put him off her when things are going so well and so, she decides against it but with the intention of telling him in the future. "I really feel like I've met you before too. Maybe we went to summer camp together as kids."

He's leaning so close to her now that she can see little specks of copper stubble dotted along his jaw, which rests on his palm as he glances out the café window. It makes her delicate, pale skin blush like a peach. Her eyes trail along his jaw to his strong, well-defined lips. She wonders what it would be like to reach out and touch them, to let her fingertips trace the shape of them. Clary thinks he might kiss her, since he's so close to her. Jace swirls around in his chair to pick up his cup and catches a glimpse of Clary's gaze. He smiles to himself as he finishes the last drop of coffee.

"Want me to walk you back to the apartment?" he asks, his smug grin still uncontrollable.

He walks with her right up to her door and the two pause.

"Let me get your number before you go," he says, taking out his phone and handing it to her and she hurriedly takes her own out of her back pocket to do the same, almost dropping it in the process. He laughs under his breath as he quickly taps the numbers.

"I'll see you around before the break," he says, before turning and walking to his own door.

The moment Clary walks through the door, it bumps against something hard. Isabelle clutches her head between her hands and a feeble "Oww!" is heard from the girl.

"Oh Isabelle! I'm so sorry! I didn't- hang on...were you listening?"

"What did you want me to do? I could hear you two giggling from down the hall. It was impossible not to listen!"

Clary feels a moment of embarrassment and anger but it passes quickly when she remembers that she's still holding her phone in her hand. "I got his number…"

Isabelle already knows, thanks to her eavesdropping but she lets out a squeal of excitement nonetheless. Clary glances down at her phone to see her new phone contact who added a smiley face after his name.


End file.
